KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 27 — The National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (Finas) has issued a letter of warning to the producers of local horror film Pulau for its trailer containing scenes of a sexual nature.
Finas chief executive officer Prof Dr Md Nasir Ibrahim said the trailer needs to be reedited as it doesn’t accurately depict the movie’s storyline.
“The trailer has to be redone. Racy and provocative scenes were deliberately highlighted to attract publicity.
“It needs to be changed to safeguard national sensitivities of our multicultural country,” he told mStar.
He doesn’t deny the possibility that the clip was shown as a publicity stunt before the scheduled movie release on March 9.
“A controversy like this should be a lesson and serve as a guideline of sorts for movie producers so similar mistakes will not be repeated in the future,” said Nasir, adding that the controversy itself has become a marketing bait.
Referring to the criticism that Pulau ignited, he said all matters can be resolved when the respective parties get together and cooperate.
“When such things happen, Finas won’t let it pass and will call upon everyone involved for further discussion.
“The censorship board has done their duty and we support each other. I believe that they too, have constraints as we live in a multicultural society,” Nasir said.
Directed by Eu Ho, Pulau is about a group of youngsters who go on vacation only to have it turn into a living nightmare after being forced to stay on a deserted island.
Its two-minute 35-second trailer featuring racy scenes raked in one million views on YouTube in nine days.
The cast includes Alif Satar, Amelia Henderson, Ikmal Amry, Sanjna Suri, Joey Leong, Harris Annuar and Jazmy Juma.
